Why this startup thinks it can stop Facebook from taking over the internet

As Facebook's power in the internet industry grows, there's one
startup that thinks it has a key advantage to beat out the
company's grip on our social lives.

"We have something that Facebook doesn’t have, and that’s the
idea of freedom," said Kik founder and CEO Ted Livingston onstage
at Ignition 2015.

Kik is a messaging app that's grown widely popular among teens
and now has more than 250 million users. One key difference from
Facebook's social network, which Kik's teen users have
latched onto: not having to tie your account to your phone
number.

Teens and other groups on Kik, like Reddit moderators, like being
able to have multiple identities at once, says Livingston.

"We say you can be whoever you want to be," Livingston said.
"You can have as many identities that you want."

Facebook still has the advantage of its user base. More than one
billion people use the platform every day, and many of those use
Facebook Messenger to communicate. Kik has the tough task of
convincing people to use another chat app, but Livingston
knows that. In August, the largest messaging company in
China
made a strategic investment in Kik to help bolster its
effort.

"The thing that gets me excited is that we are the under dog,"
Livingston said. "We’re in this position where we’re forced to
work with everyone else to take on Facebook."